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Vendor
Fritz Agency
Christian Dittus
Original language
English

BODIES OF LIGHT

Jennifer Down

BODIES OF LIGHT is a novel that turns a single human life into an epic story, a hugely readable book that traverses the darkest territory, a book that fulfils fiction's promise to immerse us in the realities of another identity, another body, another way of seeing the world.

The novel tracks the life of Maggie: from her traumatic childhood shuttled between care homes; to domestic happiness that ends in tragedy; to the arms of a passionate woman in the southern alps of New Zealand; and to a new existence and new name in the USA—only for her to find that she can't leave her old self behind so easily.

This is the story of a life in full, detailed, wrenching, sensuous and compelling. It's about suffering and heartbreak, memory and loss, the refusal to do anything but survive, no matter the odds. BODIES OF LIGHT confirms Jennifer Down as one of the writers defining her generation.

Born in 1990, Jennifer Down already has published a highly regarded novel and book of stories. She has twice been named a Sydney Morning Herald Young Novelist of the Year. Bodies of Light is the book that fulfills the fabulous promise of this early work.
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Published 2021-10-01 by Text Publishing

Comments

"One of Australia's most exciting young writers." — Vogue "Mesmerising, brutal and unforgettable." — Sydney Morning Herald "An ambitious novel that explores the psychological fallout of a life that has gone wrong from the start Down is one of Australia's most promising young writers." — Saturday Paper "A sweeping, intensely immersive novel." — Kill Your Darlings "Bodies of Light is an assured second novel laden with emotions and gorgeous images." — Sydney Review of Books "A story of a woman's remarkable resilience, the possibility of human kindness, and the necessity of hope Intelligently, tenderly restrained." — Australian Book Review "[Down] takes her skills to new heights with the stunning Bodies of Light It's a major achievement, and is exactly my kind of Great Australian Novel." — Readings Monthly "Down is reframing altogether the way that difficult life events can be written about and can be rendered artistically without becoming manipulative or sensationalised An incredibly propulsive book." — ABC Radio National Bookshelf "Extraordinary Tender and spiky, evocative and engrossing, this gorgeous novel will break your heart and linger in your brain." — InDaily "There is no other release in 2021 that I would recommend more passionately to almost every reader. Bodies of Light is so full of beauty and hope, not least because Down is an incredibly accomplished writer, who manages to plunge the reader into time and place with astonishing depth and assuredness." — Meanjin

‘As silly and tacky as possible': how Jennifer Down celebrated her Miles Franklin win with family Read more...

Catalan and Spanish: Navona (separate deals); Poland: Foksal; Russia: Eksmo.. ANZ audio: Wavesound; US audio: Recorded Books; UK audio: Howes;

Winner, 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award Shortlist, Stella Prize 2022

"Down's second novel solicits the kind of emotional investment in her protagonist that books like Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life or Douglas Stuart's Shuggie Bain lobbied for ... Bodies of Light is a remarkably empathic book, a bildungsroman in the mode of Jane Eyre or Of Human Bondage." Read more...

"Bodies of Light is a brilliant, sharply observed and deeply affecting epic that secures Down's status as one of the best writers in Australia today." Read more...

"Fierce and compelling. Down's compassion for her character, her refusal to look away from intolerable suffering, is a lesson for us all. A novel with immense dignity and heart." —Carrie Tiffany "Mesmerising, uncompromising and extraordinary. A whole life is in these pages." —Robbie Arnott "Brutal and beautiful—I couldn't stop reading it. Jennifer Down is a brilliant writer." —Victoria Hannan